The idea for boulevard gardens is slow to grow in Smithers, however it isn’t dead.
Earlier in June, Kayhan Ghatavi and Sarah Harvie placed two garden boxes on the town boulevard in front of their home on Second Avenue within the high-density residential/downtown commercial zone. They said they put the boxes over chipped concrete, gravel and weeds.
Two days later they were notified the boxes contravened a highway bylaw and action was requested by the end of summer.
The couple presented to council and asked the town to develop guidelines for boulevard gardening consistent with municipalities across the province and country.
At the July 23 meeting, town staff told council in order to create a garden boulevard policy with public guidelines, the town would need to allocate staff resources to review and assess existing policy to determine the scope of changes that will be required.
Further, the town would need to review operational practices and determine changes to maintenance standards and practices throughout the community. This project will require notable resources and time to complete.
As the town has a process to regularly review and consider new strategic priorities, staff recommended referring the matter to the Standing Committee on Strategic Priorities.
At first, Councillor Laura Leonard was unsure about the deferral.
“I like the idea in principle, but I struggle a bit with the referring it to the Standing Committee on Strategic Priorities, because we have such a long list that we aren't dealing with already,” she said.
However, Councillor Frank Wray eased her concerns.
“When things are brought forward to us, and we can't do them, I think referring them, even if it's kept in the parking lot, that parking lot gets passed to the next council, and hopefully will knock some priorities off.
"And some of these things may be on the next council's [agenda], but without having somewhere to put them in the parking lot, they're just going to die for lack of, you know, maybe somebody's like, 'I'm not gonna bring it up again.' Whereas, at least in the parking lot, it has a chance.”
In the end, council voted unanimously to refer the delegation’s request to develop a garden boulevard policy and guidelines to the committee.
